Hal, Chick - Sale Creek area, Crappie, Bass & 'Gills, 7-12-10, Big Jim

[FishNews]

Today was my last day of "Vacation Fishing" so Jim and I got an early start crappie hunting, emoTongue The Grand Kids are coming for the rest of the week so I'm sure I'll be back out on the lake at least once more this week, emoSmile Promised them some 'gill and crappie action, emoSmile I thought it was going to be a better day than it actually was. The bite was very soft and you had to be on your toes to make a hook up, :o And then the rains came and stayed along with a bit of lightening and wind so it was interesting to say the least. We did get WET even with rain gear, emoBang We caught some nice fish but only 35 crappie with about 60% being over 11 in. We also had one 'gill and one spaaatt come to the boat. Big Jim caught his 4th TARP crappie for the year this morning with a nice 14, emoThumbsup Best bait of the day was BG Bluegrass on a 1/32nd and a few on Patroit, at about an 8 count in 12 FOW and a 15 count in 25 FOW. Water temps were around 85* untill after the rains and it cooled down to 81* and the fish just shut off. Fish didn't seem to like the BG Bleeding shad today after a couple days of it being the hot bait, emoScratch I did catch one of the smallest crappie ever, a little 4-5 inch black. The jig was almost too big to go into his mouth, emoBig He'll be mean when he grows up, emoSmile All fish returned to the water to grow bigger for more fun, emoThumbsup